Happy midterms! Happy Mardi Gras! It turns out many New Haven residents celebrated Mardi Gras on Tuesday the same way many Yale students probably did — in the library. A Mardi Gras Gala and Silent Auction was held at the New Haven Free Public Library yesterday, with proceeds benefiting the venue. The event included cocktails and live performances.

How does a bill become a law? A couple undergraduates — Tyler Blackmon ’16, Jacob Wasserman ’16 and Emma Janger ’15 — had a moment in the spotlight recently during a televised public hearing of the Connecticut Judiciary Committee. The three testified before the committee regarding a bill that would end life sentence without the possibility of parole for minors in the state. They also brought 451 signed letters from Yale students expressing support for the legislation. “I slammed all those letters on the desk and gave a big speech about being impatient that the bill hadn’t passed yet,” Blackmon said.

The Dissertation Work Out. According to a recent article from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Kevin McLean FES ’16 is spending his spring semester climbing trees in the Panama rainforest in order to install cameras to document animals who dwell in the forest canopy. “I wanted to choose a research topic that would let me work my core while completing my dissertation,” McLean said in the piece. “I started off sitting on a yoga ball while I typed. This was my second idea.”

Would you pay $8.99? The Yale College Council’s “What Would You Do for a Wenzel?” contest has returned offering just as many Wenzels as ever.

Drugs in the suburbs. Evidently even the suburbs of Connecticut have problems with heroin. A recent lecture from Lauretta Grau at the Yale School of Public Health discussed data gathered from over 400 people who use injected drugs in suburban southwestern Connecticut. Heroin was the drug of choice for 90 percent of the individuals studied, the majority of whom were white, young and single.

Are you succeeding at college? The Columbia Spectator ran a four-part series this week about what it means to successful at Columbia University. One piece discussed making mistakes. Another talked about competition among students at a competitive university. “The ability to refine, change, and even discover our perception of success … is what makes college a platform for success,” another read.

THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY 1959 A two-car collision involves a psychology professor and four Whiffenpoofs.